Curtis Millner, who represents the Iriswood District on the Henry County Public Service Authority (PSA) Board of Directors, renewed his call Monday for more state and federal support to extend a water line along Virginia 57 East and Stoney Mountain Road.
This comes after news that the extension would not be included in this year’s congressional district project funding and after a failed application through the Virginia Department of Health Office of Drinking Water.
“This is a very important project for my district,” Millner said. “Parts of the Iriswood district are very rural, but in the times that we are living in, they deserve equal access to safe, public drinking water. We have to keep trying. I hope the state will eventually come around and help us fund this project.”
The proposed project costs approximately $7.6 million and includes the construction of 60,850 linear feet of pipe. By consolidating the existing Leatherwood Estates well system into a larger surface water supply, the project would make public water service available to nearly 250 additional homes.
All of the households impacted by the project are located in Census Tract 103. According to data from the most recent American Community Survey, the median household income for homes in Census Tract 103 are 33 percent lower than the national average. Approximately 62 percent of the population in the census tract are classified as people of color and 46 percent are low income. The project location also qualifies as a focus area in terms of the environmental justice index (EJI)—a tool used to measure the impact of the environment on human health and health equity. Data from the U.S. Environmental Protective Agency shows that the average EJI of the block group in the project area falls in the 76th percentile of the state and the 68th percentile of the nation.
A bacterial sampling of 30 private wells in the project area found that 56.6 percent of the homes tested positive for total coliform and 3.33 percent were positive for E. coli.
By extending the PSA’s water line to the project area, these households would have access to drinking water that is treated for microbial and chemical contamination. This has the potential to improve health outcomes by reducing the risk of morbidities associated with diseases caused by water contamination. Other benefits of access to a public water supply include increased property values and fire protection.
The PSA has submitted another application to the state for funding assistance on the project this year.
